Working the numbers 2019 style

mark55man

Sorry about being a but tetchy yesterday but the MSE site trounced so many of my posts - IT being done badly really does my head in.

Today has been good so far - a nice coffee in one of the local coffee shops made even nicer by my friend paying - but I am about to save him £50 by using my works discount scheme for an annual C1new0rld pass for his OH

Carrying on my good behaviour this week stepswise I went the long way round and managed another 3.5 miles. Didn't walk home as I met up with OH in town for another coffee (no cake) for £5. we had a great time discussing how to try and save money on our shopping - then went to Sainsbugs. We have agreed to aim at monthly budget of £600 for a family of 5 adults - 2 vegans - and a cat. That is a lot by some standards, but is still a significant saving I am ashamed to say. its really helpful OH is taking this on as we are both busy, and have always respected each others careers so I was worried it would feel like a backward move for her to be more domestic

I am going to try and report more on actual spends at the moment I am rolling it all up into balances and weekly/monthly but you spend money on a day by day basis, so I will try and be a little more detailed, although wont promise a breakdown every day. We are trying not to spend any cash at all for trackability - I still have £20 in my wallet thats been ther for weeks.

NSD have been elusive this week but will report back n Tuesday will try and squeeze one in tomorrow

mark55man

Pretty cheap day today - only 5p - which I had to lend a colleague who was short for a snack from the machine. I think I will still count that as a NSD

Numbers looking good for the week, £20 vouchers - one for using Apple pay on (via barclaycard) for an amount over £30 - who knew!!. Just going out now to try and fit in a bit of walk around doing some errands in town - but its cold and dark, and I'm a wimp - plus super early start tomorrow, so won't get to 10000 today

The buyer is coming to pick up DD's old car on Weds so that will be a relief, been looking for old service history bits and bobs in my metal filing cabinet (yes I am that old) and found a few which so that will go down well

mark55man

Report Back for 2nd Week in January 080119-->140119.

Money

• Main CC - 90.4% (29 payments to go)
• New DD Car CC – 100% (27 payments to go)
• Car loan – 95.7% (23 payments to go)
• Mortgage - 98.8% unchanged from last week - 83 payments to go
• £2019 in 2019 challenge is going well with £46 in this week (above required average)
• No CC spends – 7/7
• NSD – 2/7 (excluding 5p I leant to a colleague)
• Separate Work and Home spending – going well new account up and running and liking it – monitoring 2 accounts isn’t a problem with mobile app checks daily
• Emergency fund - £0 – but will get a top up when DD car is collected Thursday – I have identified a savings account for it to go into

Non Money (Weight/Health/Green)

• Weight is back up a kilo in this week so that’s a total loss of 0 out of a target 17.
• My steps average was 10450 for the week – an hour a day walking solidly and then being more active at work made the difference
• Didn’t make 3/7 Vegetarian - only 2/7 and 0 vegan
• 6 for 7 on no alcohol purchases (I had to buy a drink on our night out)
• Zero food waste – still going well. OH is shopping smaller but more frequently which is bad for NSD but good for waste – not all targets work together
• Single use plastic - not a major focus, but trying to reuse packaging for carrying packed lunches, and choosing more loose fruit and veg at market and Sainsbugs
• packed lunches 5 for 5!

Highlights – having a treat as a night out – but also doing well on managing and monitoring all the accounts it just feels more sorted – although I think I am in for a shock next week as my main 0% CC DD is out and I can’t recall what the minimum payment is!. However OH gets paid next week so that should balance it out. Plus having decided to take on credit for DD new car, being able to do it at 0 cost is fab

Lowlights – None really – not sure I have been very interesting, but I am enjoying this more than I thought so you’ll just have to bear with!!

mark55man

Out overnight last night - session in the hotel gym (very poor - all the machines were squeaking) then literally I couldn't keep awake so gave in and was sparko by 9pm and awake at 5:30 for a more gentle walk = just over 3.5 miles - so now breakfast and work from the hotel for a bit before I head off on some visits. Should get home early which will be nice - especially as I am at 9000 steps already so I can just sit and chill

doingitanyway

I love hotel spas and breakfasts on the whole

Your step count is great. Are you new to having a f1tb1t?

2/7 for veggie days is still good.

mark55man

Yes it is a treat even if it's also a chore. Nice salmon with double veggie yesterday.

I have been a yoyo exerciser was vey fit 10 years ago then a decline with a couple of dead cat bounces.

This Fitbit was new at Xmas although I did have have an earlier model a few years ago but it wasn't numberific enough!!!

mark55man

quite a busy day but I had an unexpected spend in that I had to throw away my clean shirt at the hotel as it had ripped at the back and I hadnt noticed. My non work clothes were nowehere near smart enough. so I popped into a charity shop on route to work and spent £15 on a Ralph Lauren number that is definitely my new best (although that does say a lot about my current wardrobe). I normally don't spend £15 on new shirts so defintely a cut above

[Deleted User]

Not so good about the shirt, but hooray for the charity shop bargain! I love a good charity shop find - the ones round here are wee treasure troves, no matter what you're looking for, you can always find something suitable

ohdearhowdidthathappen

I've never really looked in charity shops, might give it a go, that's a great bargain :-)

mark55man

My friends daughter is 6' and slim as a rake makes a habit of never paying more than £25 and coming out with fabulous items from serious names. Espeically if we visit anywhere remotely posh together - eg Islington was a treasure trove